Value of simoleon

[brianc1327 161]

Based on the cost of various items in SC4, it looks likes a simoleon in the game is quite valuable, so I choose to compare the cost of a tennis court in real life to the cost of one in SC4.

My calculations were thus:

Size of square = 8x8 metres (64m²)

Concrete needed to cover square 30cm (1ft) deep
64m² x .3m = 20 m³

Cost to lay concrete in 1 square = 20 m³ * $90/m³ = $1800, and since there are 2 squares so that is $3600.

I will double or triple that for laying the conrete (unless the $90/m³ figure I found already includes the cost for laying it), clearing and smoothing the land, putting the fence around the tennis court (most tennis courts I have seen have a fence around them), installing the net, etc., and of course, buying the land in the first place, for a grand total of $7000 to $10000 to put up a tennis court.

I looked it up, and that is really low, I found this statement when I did a google search: "The average cost to build a residential tennis court from start to finish including dirt work, post tension slab, fencing, lighting, surfacing and accessories, is about $65,000. However, prices can easily range anywhere between $50,000 to $80,000 depending on options."

Cost of putting up a tennis court in sim city 4 = 130 simoleans

Ratio of dollars to simoleons = 65000/130 = 500 dollars/simolean.

A quick search on how much it costs to put up a basketball court yields a similar ratio, so based on this, and other prices in SC4, a simoleon is worth quite a bit in actual dollars. 

Brian Christiansen
 

[Fantozzi 4,069]

Isn't a tile in sc4 16x16m?

Based on this, I always wondered how tall sims are.  If you put a sim on an empty tile and estimate his dimensions compared to the tile, I ended up, that a sim has to be between 3 or 4,5 meters tall. 

[airman15 4,115]

Just now, Fantozzi said:

Isn't a tile in sc4 16x16m?

Based on this, I always wondered how tall sims are.  If you put a sim on an empty tile and estimate his dimensions compared to the tile, I ended up, that a sim has to be between 3 or 4,5 meters tall. 

The sprites for walking sims do end up to be a tad overscaled; I could be wrong but i'm guessing it was done for the purpose of visibility. It's impossible to make out any details from an accurately scaled person even as a normal LE prop or MMP. Even standing next to one of the default SUV's, they seem to be about the same height or slightly taller.

Now in regards to the calculated currency on the game's money vs real money, that's very interesting one simoleon can be worth almost someone's entire paycheck! Does the SimNation treasury weave pure gold into their bills I wonder? What would be the likeliest item in backing a currency to make it worth so much?

[brianc1327 161]

Just in case any one is not certain, 3-4.5 meters is 9-15 feet, 8 square meters is about 8 square yards or 24 square feet.

Thinking about it, and what can fit in a SC4 square, it might be 16x16 meters.  This would make my estimate $28000-$40000, which is still a bit low compared to the actual cost I found by doing a google search, but it is closer.  Maybe they just have real cheap cement ("simcement") that instead of $90/m² it is the equivalent of a "simpenny"

 

Brian Christiansen 

[Fantozzi 4,069]

Well I think, simoleons are a special currency as the monetary system is quite strict. In Sc4 depts are always transparent, in real countries depts are hidden and scattered f. e. in government securities. In SC4 moolah is a cheat, in real countries it's part of the system and called federal bank or bank of circulation. In real life countries and states have the posibilities to make money out of nowhere and making overkill depts - what has negative effects on the value of a currency. Those negative effects on the currency don't exist in SC4 - so one could suggest, that simoleon has to be a very valuable and stable currency, indeed similar to gold. Also sims are used to pay low taxes compared to real life states. Also public spendings are modesty, no threats that makes running an advanced military necessary, no homeless, handicapped or poor, that creates the need for a complex welfare system - all that indicates simoleons is a currency of the lucky ones. 
 

[CorinaMarie 29,934]

Tis an interesting topic. I like it.

Allow me to go off on a different, but related tangent. Let's look at a couple of different cities. The first is one of my rural farming communities in which the average income is $17,000. I'm assuming that is an annual figure. This equates to about $1416.67 gross income per month. From a lender's perspective one's monthly house payment should be no more than 28% of the monthly income. That's the payment for principal, interest, taxes and insurance (PITI). Ok, so let's say our Sim will make a down payment of 10% of a home's sales price and finance the rest at 5% interest on a 30 year note.

Working backwards we estimate the annual property taxes as 1.25% of the sales price which would be $64.89 per month. And since they put less than 20% down payment the private mortgage insurance would be about $30.83 per month. This leaves $300.95 to pay towards the mortgage payment and loan interest giving us an average home value of $62,290.

My second scenario is a city in which my Sims are more affluent and have an average income of $65,000. Using the same percentages, their average home value is then $238,168.

[airman15 4,115]

With this formula, it is now easier to get an idea of how much money you're starting with once a city is established. Depending on how you're starting out, this is the amount of money you're given to build up the first roads and zoning the first developments:
Hard- 100,000 simoleons= $50,000,000
Medium- 250,000 simoleons= $125,000,000
Easy- 500,000 simoleons= $250,000,000

This sounds reasonable to get at least a small village up and going. Now how about the reverse? I tried to see how much an individual sim would pay for a new car on their economy. The answers sound much lower than what you'd expect them to be.

Going based on the same formula and if say the Volvo V90 was sold in the SimCity universe, a sim looking to buy one would be looking at spending.. $43,500/500 (by the 500/1 ratio)= 87 simoleons? That seems like an awfully low number. You couldn't get an old beat up Subaru for less than $500 in real money, not even a running example. I tried again on a different vehicle, this time using a Fiat 500c and the total came to $16,490/500= 33 simoleons, rounded up a hair. I double checked these on paper while I was at it.

Now this raises a question- how much money in simoleons is a sim actually making?

[NCGAIO 562]

On 11/08/2016 at 10:23 PM, airman15 said:

........... Now this raises a question- how much money in simoleons is a sim actually making?

Although innocuous value is thus defined

0x8a63f2a1 - Average Salary for Demographic:  -  Type of Wealth  X  Level of Education EQ1 .... EQ4

R $ - 17,000 - / - 19,250 - / - 21,500 - / - 26,000
R $$ - 25,000 - / - 31,250 - / - 37,500 - / - 50,000
R $$$ - 45,000 - / - 108 750 - / - 172 500 - / - 300 000

In sequence seems that SC4 also have a look at a national economy (as done in SC13) but like many other things was left as incomplete idea.

On 09/08/2016 at 6:06 AM, airman15 said:

... It's impossible to make out any details from an accurately scaled person even as a normal LE prop or MMP. Even standing next to one of the default SUV's, they seem to be about the same height or slightly taller...

Old thread about issue ... wait

Also good to remember that neither the scale nor the viewing angle are the same for all zooms.

Some old graphic examples for understanding... ( this discussion SC4D )